Effect of β-glucan-fatty acid esters on microstructure and physical properties of wheat straw arabinoxylan films.

Arabinoxylans (AX) was isolated from wheat straw, whereas β-glucan (BG) was extracted from oat flour. The compositional analysis indicated wheat straw AX contained arabinose and xylose as major constituent sugars whereas higher β-glucan content (77%) was found in the extracted material from oat flour. The BG was conjugated with lauric (LA), myristic (MA), palmitic (PA), stearic (SA) and oleic (OA) acid to prepare corresponding β-glucan-fatty acid esters (BGFAs) with nearly similar degree of substitution. The effect of BGFAs to AX films on the water barrier, optical and mechanical properties were investigated. The addition of LABG and MABG to AX formed laminar structures in the composite films which limited water vapor permeability, giving rise to more opacity. Films prepared by blending AX with SABG and OABG were less effective as water vapor barrier due to their non-layer film microstructures; however they were less opaque. The laminar structures also imparted less mechanical strength and flexibility in the composite films. Furthermore, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed that all AX-BGFAs composite films were thermally more stable than pure AX and AX-BG films.